Hamaayan / The Torah Spring
Edited by Shlomo Katz

We read in this week's parashah of Pharaoh's dream, in which
Pharaoh was standing "over the river." The midrash comments:
"The wicked stand over their gods, as it is written, 'He was
standing over the river.' [The Egyptians worshipped the Nile.] In
contrast, G-d stands above the righteous, as it is written
(Bereishit 28:13), 'Behold! G-d was standing over him
[Yaakov]'." R' Elya Meir Bloch z"l (1894-1955; rosh yeshiva of
Telshe in Cleveland) explains:

The righteous constantly strive to improve themselves and raise
themselves to greater heights. Thus they always see G-d as above
them. Not so the wicked; they see themselves as above G-d and
they constantly redefine Him and His commandments in a way that
meets their perceived needs. (Peninei Da'at)

R' S.R. Hirsch z"l (Germany; 1808-1888) writes in a similar
vein: One is accustomed to call the Torah "Religion" or Jewish
Religion because the word religion usually describes the
relationship of man to his G-d or gods. Yet, it is exactly this
term "religion" that has made it so difficult to understand the
essence of the Torah. The Torah is not the thought of man, but
the thought of G-d, expressed in Divine laws. The Torah is not
man's teachings about G-d, but G-d's teaching about what is and
what man should be.

Given the common understanding of "religion," it is small
wonder, writes R' Hirsch, that people ask questions which have no
meaning so far as the Torah is concerned: "You want Judaism to
remain the same forever?" "All religions rejuvenate themselves
and advance with the progress of the nations, and only the Jewish
'Religion' wants to remain rigid, always the same, and refuses to
yield to the views of an enlightened age?" These questions are
meaningless and futile because the Torah is the unique eternal
message of the Unique and Eternal G-d of heaven and earth.
(Collected Writings: Sivan I and elsewhere)

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"Now let Pharaoh seek out a discerning and wise man and set
him over the land of Egypt." (41:37)

Why was a "discerning and wise man" needed to oversee the
collection of provisions during the seven years of plenty? R'
Shalom Schwadron z"l (1911-1997; the "Maggid" of the Maggid
Speaks series) explains in the name of his teacher, R' Elya
Lopian z"l (1872-1970):

Gathering provisions during a time of plenty for a famine that
is seven years in the future requires real wisdom and
understanding, for it is against human nature. The Sages say
(Tamid 32a): "Who is wise? One who has foresight." Moreover,
convincing the entire nation to share this foresight requires an
additional measure of wisdom and understanding.

Our life times, continues R' Schwadron, are a time when mitzvot
are plentiful, but they will be followed by years of famine when
it is impossible to add to our stores of mitzvot. When those
years come, we will regret every berachah we omitted and every
prayer and bentching that we recited with less than full
attention. This is what King Shlomo alluded to in the verse
(Kohelet 11:8), "Even if a man lives many years, let him rejoice
in all of them, but let him remember that the days of darkness
will be many."
(Lev Shalom)

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"Pharaoh said to his servants, 'Could we find another like
him - a man in whom is the spirit of G-d?'" (41:38)

R' Yekutiel Yehuda Zalman Laib Teitelbaum z"l (1808-1883; the
first "Sigheter Rebbe") asks: Were there no other people alive
who had the spirit of G-d in them?

He answers: Certainly there are many people who engage in
spiritual matters all day and have the spirit of G-d in them.
What impressed Pharaoh, however, and what is unusual, is to find
a working person like Yosef in whom is the spirit of G-d.
(Quoted in Otzrot Tzaddikei Ve'geonei Ha'dorot)

********

"Then Pharaoh said to Yosef, 'Since G-d has informed you of
all this, there can be no one so discerning and wise as
you'." (41:39)

What did Pharaoh mean by, "of all this"? Why didn't he say
simply, "Since G-d has informed you of this"? R' Zvi Yechezkel
Michelsohn z"l (1863-1943; chairman of the Warsaw rabbinical
council beginning in 1920) explains:

When we compare Pharaoh's dream (verses 1-8) with his retelling
of his dream (verses 17-24), we notice that Pharaoh changed
certain details. For example, verse 1 says, "Behold! He was
standing over the river," while verse 17 says, "Behold! I was
standing al sefat ha'yeor / on the bank of the river."

Why did Pharaoh make these changes? Perhaps it was Pharaoh's
way of testing those who offer their interpretations, for no one
could give a true interpretation of the dream unless he also
divined what the dream had actually been.

We read in Tehilim (81:6), "He appointed it as a testimony to
Yosef when he went out over the land of Egypt, when I heard a
sefat unknown to me." R' Michelsohn explains that these were
Yosef's words to Pharaoh, "I know what your dream was and what
its interpretation is. However, when you retold your dream, I
heard the word 'sefat,' whose place in the dream is unknown to
me. I do not think it was actually part of your dream."

When Pharaoh heard this, he responded, "Since G-d has informed
you of all this, there can be no one so discerning and wise as
you'."
(Quoted in Otzrot Tzaddikei Ve'geonei Ha'dorot)

********

"Their hearts sank, and they turned trembling one to
another, saying, 'What is this that G-d has done to us'?"
(42:28)

Why did they tremble "one to another" and not to themselves?
R' Shimon Yosef Meller shlita explains that each of Yaakov's sons
was not worried for himself. After all, one is obligated to
bless G-d for the bad just as for the good. However, that
attitude is appropriate only with regard to one's own troubles.
When it comes to someone else's troubles, one must bear his
burden with him.

"Then Reuven said to his father, 'You may slay my two sons
if I fail to bring him [Binyamin] back to you'." (42:37)

R' Yisrael Alter z"l (the "Gerrer Rebbe"; died 1977) used to
say: Why did Yaakov reject Reuven's offer? Because it showed
only a half-hearted commitment to Binyamin's safety. After all
Reuven had four sons!
(Quoted in Otzrot Tzaddikei Ve'geonei Ha'dorot)

In light of Yaakov's resistance to Binyamin's going to Egypt,
why did the brothers have to bring the real Binyamin to Egypt?
Since it was a mater of life and death, why didn't they pick any
person from their household, or even from the street, and say he
was Binyamin?

R' Chaim Soloveitchik z"l (1953-1918) answers: The Torah
records that the Egyptian viceroy (Yosef) kept one of the
brothers (Shimon) imprisoned when he sent the others home. Had
the brothers returned with an imposter, Yosef could have forced
Shimon to pick "Binyamin" out of a line-up and thus reveal their
trick.
(Quoted in Torat Chaim p. 44; Shai La'Torah p. 107)

[Ed. Note: This year is a shemittah year, and from time-to-
time, we are presenting excerpts from the laws of shemittah.
As with any halachic issue addressed in Hamaayan, our goal
is to increase awareness of the subject, not to provide
practical halachic guidance. For such advice, consult a
competent rabbi.]

12. If one plants during the seventh year, whether he
transgressed willfully or unknowingly, what he planted must be
uprooted. The reason is that many people are suspected of
transgressing shemittah, and if you say that one who transgressed
unknowingly may preserve what he planted, people who transgress
will say, "I did not know [that I was transgressing]."

13. If one plows his field or fertilizes it during the seventh
year so that it will be fit for planting in the following year,
he is penalized and he may not plant the field in the following
year. In such a case, one may not rent the field from the owner;
rather, it must lie fallow. However, if the owner dies, his son
may plant it [and we do not penalize the son].

14. If one gathers thorns from his field during the seventh
year so that it will be fit for planting in the following year,
or if one gathers stones from his field, even though this is not
permitted, the Sages did not penalize him and he may plant the
field in the year after the shemittah.

16. Originally, the Sages said that a person may gather twigs,
stones and grass from his own field, so long as he only takes the
large ones and does not thoroughly clean his field, and he may
gather even small items from his friend's field. [According to
Torah law, these activities are permitted during the shemittah.]
However, when the number of transgressors - i.e., people who
intended to clean their fields but said [falsely], "We are only
taking the large ones" - increased, the Sages prohibited
gathering [twigs, stones and grass] from one's own field. A
person may still gather from his friend's field as long as there
is no quid pro quo, i.e., he does not say, "Look how much good I
did by cleaning your field."

18. If one chopped down one or two trees for their wood, he
may uproot their roots. If he chopped down three or more trees
side-by-side, he may not uproot them, for then he will be
preparing a patch of land for planting. Rather, he should chop
the wood and leave the roots.